- Date
- October 21, 1994, 09:05 local (15:05 UTC)
- Place
- Greeley, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6958VMooney M20C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 19287
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Inadvertent landing gear retraction by the pilot flying the aircraft. A factor was inadequate supervision by the flight instructor.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During takeoff roll, on a touch-and-go landing, the pilot under instruction inadvertently raised the landing gear instead of the flaps.
Factual narrative
On October 21, 1994, at 0905 mountain daylight time, a Mooney M20C, N6958V, sustained substantial damage during takeoff at Greeley-Weld County Airport, Greeley, Colorado. The two pilots were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local instructional flight and no flight plan was filed.
According to both pilots, they were conducting touch and go landings with the pilot in the left seat under instruction and flying the aircraft. During takeoff roll, on a touch-and-go, and after applying takeoff power, the pilot under instruction inadvertently retracted the landing gear instead of the flaps.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6958V
- Reported as
- Mooney M20C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-1191
- Airframe hours
- 4,662
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Aero-West Flying Club, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 28, 1994 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- GXY
- Destination
- GXY · CO
- Airport
- GXY · Greeley-Weld County, runway 9, 6,200 × 100 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,800 total · 400 in this make and model · 3,620 as pilot in command · 210 in the last 90 days · 64 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GXY, 1 nm away
Other investigations on N6958V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.